Childhood friends and neighbours from Uttar Pradesh have been identified as the prime suspects in the murder of a lorry driver on National Highway 44 at Indalwai in Nizamabad district on Tuesday (December 16) evening. Preliminary inquiries suggest that long-standing personal grudges between the accused and the deceased led to the murder.
The deceased, Mohammad Salman, 35, a lorry driver from Mubarakpur village in Allahabad district in Uttar Pradesh, was assaulted near an HP petrol pump opposite a roadside dhaba at Devi Thanda on the outskirts of Indalwai mandal at around 5 p.m.. Salman was driving a lorry bearing registration number ‘KA 70 3854’.
Police have identified the accused as Mohammad Hammad, 25, and his younger brother Mohammad Hassan, 22, both lorry drivers and natives of the same village as the deceased. The two are currently absconding and police teams have been formed to trace and apprehend them.
Speaking to The Hindu, Dichpally Circle Inspector Vinod Reddy said the accused and the deceased had grown up together in the same locality in Uttar Pradesh and were close friends during their childhood. A dispute later strained their relationship, and they stopped speaking to each other. Coincidentally, all three later entered the transport profession and crossed paths again in Telangana while operating on the same route, he said.
According to the police, Salman had loaded a consignment of potatoes at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh on December 15 and was travelling towards Chintapudi in Karnataka along with his lorry cleaner, Mohammad Javeed. While passing through Indalwai, Salman stopped his vehicle for tea at a dhaba near the highway. His brother, Mohammad Hasnain, who was travelling from Bengaluru to Uttar Pradesh, was also present at the dhaba at the time.
Investigators said the accused arrived at the spot in another lorry bearing registration number KA-07-C-2365, got down holding iron rods and attacked Salman on his head and body. According to Hasnain’s statement to the police, one of the accused also fired at Salman with a country-made pistol during the assault, causing him to collapse. When Hasnain attempted to intervene, the accused allegedly tried to assault him as well, forcing him to flee from the spot to save his life.
However, the police noted that the lorry cleaner, who was inside the vehicle during the incident, told investigators that he did not witness any firing and only heard a tapping sound during the assault, leading to a discrepancy in witness accounts that is being examined as part of the investigation.
Salman suffered grievous injuries and died while being shifted to the Government General Hospital in Nizamabad. His brother escaped unhurt.
After the attack, the accused fled the scene, abandoning their lorry near Chandrayanpally Shivar, and went into hiding. A case has been registered at Indalwai police station, and an investigation is under way.
Published – December 18, 2025 12:09 am IST
